The ending ed is usually not pronounced as a separate syllable. For instance, in each of the following examples, both the bare infinitive and the past participle consist of one syllable. For example:
| Bare Infinitive | Past Participle |
| puff | puffed |
| work | worked |
| miss | missed |
| watch | watched |
However, when the ending ed is added to verbs which end in d or t, the ed ending of the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. The reason for this is that the sounds of d and t are so similar to the sound of the ed ending, that the ending must be pronounced as a separate syllable in order to be heard clearly.
In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle consists of two syllables. For example:
| Bare Infinitive | Past Participle |
| add | added |
| land | landed |
| hunt | hunted |
| wait | waited |
Similarly, when d is added to verbs ending in a silent e preceded by d or t, the final ed of the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle consists of two syllables. For example:
| Bare Infinitive | Past Participle |
| fade | faded |
| glide | glided |
| cite | cited |
| note | noted |
Exercise:
Keeping in mind that the ending ed forms a separate syllable only when it follows the letter d or t, indicate the number of syllables in each of the following past participles. Read each of the the past participles aloud.
For example:
__ pained
1 pained
__ painted
2 painted
__ pained
1 pained
__ painted
2 painted
1. 2
2. 1
3. 1
4. 2
5. 2
6. 2
7. 2
8. 1
9. 1
10. 2
11. 1
12. 1
13. 2
14. 1
15. 1
16. 2
17. 2
18. 1
19. 1
20. 2
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